Chapter 6: On SpecterIsland
“ So, in short, you have told me nothing about my brother,” Kimmy sighed.
“ Hey, I already informed you earlier that I could not help much,” Max protested.
“ Not only you did not help much, you told me some crazy adventure of yours in the city. Are you trying to bore me?” Kimmy asked teasingly.
“ Oh boy, girls are sure hard to please,” Max sighed.
A resounding ring that rung through the plane caught their attention. The captain of the plane started speaking:
“ Attention flight passengers. We are approximately 15 minutes away from our destination. We would like to thank you…”
“ For flying with us…blah,blah,blah…man, this is just too routine,” Max sighed.
“ You sound like you have been flying in a plane all your life,” Kimmy said.
“ Well, my parents were people who went all over the world. When I was young, I had to travel with them. By the time I was ten, I was already begging them not to take me along anymore,” Max replied.
“ Why are you going to SpecterIsland for?”
“ Work. What about you?”
“ I’m going there to further my studies at the university with my friends,” Kimmy replied.
“ May I ask what subject you are studying?” Max asked.
“ Art.”
“ What art?”
“ When I come up with something, you’ll see,” Kimmy said.
“ Why can’t you just tell me?” Max groaned.
“ Keeps the suspense, just in case you lose interest in me,” Kimmy replied.
“ What the heck is that supposed to mean?” Max asked, narrowing his eyes.
She did not reply. The plane started to drop and Max could feel the pressure again affecting his ears. He casually brushed his belt, making sure that it had been fasten. He looked out his window to get a good look at SpecterIsland.
He only had a rough explanation of how SpecterIsland looked like. From his window, he could see that SpecterIsland in all its glory. SpecterIsland did not consist of an island only, but rather, made up of eight pieces of land. They were called SpecterIsland because the man-made islands were actually connected together as a singular land mass where eight land masses stuck out from under the sea.
According to the direction of the sun, the north side of SpecterIsland consisted of an island, where Max could make out the faint outline of the airport and the seaport. At the south part if the first island were three other islands and further south were three more. There was a smaller island at the far-east side of all the other islands. He could see what looked like a research centre there.
He noticed that all the islands, except the one with the research centre, were joined to other adjourning islands with bridges. He counted twelve bridges in total. He started wondering why the research island did not have a bridge. He could not find any boats to ferry the people across to the island.
“ The research island is connected by an underwater electric train. You can’t see it from here. Its rather deep,” Kimmy piped into Max’s thoughts.
“ Really? You sound like you’ve been here before,” Max commented.
“ I’ll be staying here for a while, so it would be better if I could familiarize myself with the entire area. Don’t you think so?” she asked.
“ Really? The only thing I know about the island is that it is an island. Care to tell me the geographical surroundings of the island?” Max suggested. Kimmy sighed as she took out a pen and paper. Max heard her mutter something that sounded like ‘men…’
“ Here,” she said, drawing a rough sketch of the islands. “ The islands are named by numbers, as scientists always can’t think of interesting names besides coded numbers and Latin names. The top island here is Island 1, the three islands below are numbered 2 to 4 from left to right and the bottom three are numbered 5 to 7 from left to right. No prizes for guessing the last island’s number.”
“ The airport and the seaport are located at island one. This was the first island to be built and initially the research centres were supposed to be placed here, but after they decided to start housing people here, they shifted the research centre someplace further away. They also have hangars and warehouses on this island.”
“ Island 2 has large fields and orchards. Several people live there and the theme park is also situated there. Then, there is the army base…”
“ SpecterIsland needs an army?” Max asked quizzically.
“ A small one. Island 4 houses the electrical plants and the water treatment plant, along with a small jail they have, which isn’t very big since crime is ‘supposedly’ very low. Buildings on Island 3 are still under construction.”
“ Islands 5, 6 and 7 are where most of the residential and commercial areas are, although the main island where the city centre is located is at Island 6. There university, aptly named ‘University of Specter Island’, is at Island 7. The underwater train can be boarded at Island 7.”
“ Interesting,” Max mused.
“ Really? I was under the impression that you were not listening at all,” Kimmy replied.
Their plane hit the tarmac, making them bounce in their seats.
***
“ Thanks,” Kimmy said as Max passed her bag from the baggage compartment. The passengers in the plane had all left earlier. Both of them had stayed back to wait for the crowd to disperse.
“ So, where will you be staying?” Max asked.
“ Getting very friendly are we?” Kimmy replied, arching her eyebrows.
“ I haven’t talked much to anybody for the last few years in my life save for my recently found comrade Phoenix and my sister. So, anything wrong with being very friendly?” Max asked.
Kimmy thought for a while. She wondered about the chemistry that was going on with them. Try as she might, she felt rather insecure by giving Max her address.
“ I’ll keep it for now. Besides, you know where I’m studying. That should be good enough,” Kimmy said.
“ I’ll settle with a number,” Max said hopefully.
***
Three men waited impatiently in a van parked just outside the SpecterIslandInternationalAirport, waiting for their target to arrive. They were dressed up in full body armour and armed to the teeth with machineguns. They had been waiting since early in the morning for their target to arrive. According to schedule, the targets plane had landed and the man would be heading out anytime soon.
“ Our target has been spotted,” the leader of the team said to his team-mates. The two other people headed to the front of the van for a closer look. A taxi had just exited the airport, heading south immediately towards Island 2. The team leader was looking through his binoculars to catch a glimpse of his target.
“ Target confirmed. We are moving in,” he said. The other two nodded.
One of the team members got into the drivers seat. Revving up the engine, he sped down the highway to catch up with the taxi.
Jason glanced behind. He noticed a van emerge from the airport and tailing his taxi closely. He doubted that it was a mere coincidence. The van was obviously tailing him. Alerting the taxi driver and asking him to escape the van was impossible. It would only cause more trouble.
He knew his pursuerers were probably armed and would stand no chance against them unarmed. He hated it, but he realized he had only one option left to do.
He took the duffel bag and opened its contents. He drew out a rather large and bulky metal cylinder from the bag. It felt cold. There was a small pad on the top where the numbers 0 to 9 were placed.
“ Man, what is that shit?” the taxi driver asked.
Seriously, you don’t want to know, Jason thought.
***
Max observed his surroundings. He was travelling on one of the bridges that connected Island 3 and 7. It had taken him about an hour to reach here from the airport. This piece of land is bigger than I thought!
The island was rather scenic for Max’s standards. The sea, in bright azure blue, was glittering under the sun. The water was crystal clear and Max could see schools of fishes swimming around the sea.
SpecterIsland felt just like any city he had been in, but with a laid back and easy going feeling that he could never find in today’s modern and fast paced cities. The people were friendly and courteous, but he decided it was too soon to say that since he had only met a taxi driver and an old man on the way here only.
Specter Island was a very grandiose project, looking at the sheer size and area the island covered. Max found it hard to believe that a country could house over a hundred thousand people on a piece of land like this and sustain itself. The island was proving him wrong.
He wondered wistfully why the government of the United States would approve building such an island. Marine research could be easily be accomplished even by the seaside. Even if they really needed a research centre in the middle of the sea, building a lone research centre was sufficient enough. What they had done here was making an entire city on a man-made island. Max could not see anything significant in wasting so much money on this piece of land.
I’m thinking too much. I never bother with such matters, Max thought.
“ We are almost there,” the taxi driver cheered him up, mistaking his expression as one who was bored out of his mind. Max took a good look around where he was.
“ We have just arrived at Island 7. My destination is at Island 6. How can you say that we have almost arrived?” Max demanded, spotting a signboard by the road indicating which island he was on now.
“ Half an hour is pretty fast for me,” the man replied. Max slumped back into his seat and observed his surroundings to pass the time.
His eyes lit up when he saw the SpecterIslandUniversity. It looked pretty small for a university, consisting of mainly of a singular, brick building. There were a lot of young people milling about and talking to friends. His eyes quickly scanned the area for Kimmy but he stopped himself shortly afterwards.
What the heck am I doing? I’ve just met here and here I am all messed up about wanting to see her again?
The taxi man heard a collective sigh and saw his passenger lean back further into his seat, looking more flustered than ever.
***
Phoenix sat quietly in the underwater electric train as it speed at top speed towards Island 8, the island where most of the research centres and industrial factories were located. He was dully impressed with the train, which ran very smoothly and quietly along its tracks. There were barely any occupants in the train, except the driver.
He felt tired after the flight to SpecterIsland. Try as he might, he could not force himself to fall asleep. All that went through his head was that fateful day that made him decide to come here.
“ Who is this?” Phoenix asked.
“ You mean this girl in the picture?” Dr. Pickton asked.
“ Yes.”
“ That is my daughter,” Dr. Pickton replied.
Phoenix continued to stare into the picture for a long time. Dr. Pickton was rather surprise by his reaction. He waited for a while before continuing.
“ I assume you are aware of the on-goings of what is happening with the Umbrella Incorporation. They are now facing heavy problems coming from both the government and other NGOs. This is due to the incident that happened to Raccoon city and other unspecified events,” Dr. Pickton started.
Dr. Pickton stopped as he saw Phoenix still staring at the picture. After a while, Phoenix raised his head and said “ Go on.”
“ Currently, I work for Strycorps, an industry that specializes in biotechnology in plants and marine life. I’m sure that you have heard of this company,” Dr. Pickton said. Phoenix nodded his head to signify that he was listening.
“ I’m sure you don’t know this…Umbrella owns Strycorps,” Dr. Pickton replied.
It was not really new to Phoenix. Umbrella was desperate to stay afloat. One of the numerous steps they had taken is to shift all their funds and stocks into a separate company with supposedly no ties to Umbrella. Apparently, Strycorps was one of them.
“ I am aware of Umbrella’s dealings with biological weapons and frankly, I want no part of it. However, I am also very aware that Umbrella will not allow me to leave the company that easily. I know the way they silence people who have too much information and Umbrella is very good at it, just next to the Government of the United States.”
“ What does that have to do with me? Or this person you are showing me?” Phoenix asked.
“ I plan to leave the company and go into hiding since they will be after me when they realize I have left. They will use whatever leverage they have on me. My daughter, Iris, is one of them,” Dr. Pickton replied.
Phoenix gazed at the picture. A young, blue-eyed lady stared back at him with a pleasant smile on her face. Her hair was blonde, cut short until the neck’s length. The picture was taken at a beach and her father was visible in the background. Phoenix assumed it was her mother who took this picture. Dr. Pickton did not mention his wife, so Phoenix made a guess that she had passed away.
“ Taking her along with me would cause suspicion and I am sure they will not allow it. I plan to leave first and get things in order. After that, I’ll need you to escort my daughter off the island she is on, SpecterIsland. I’ll give you the coordinates of the designated area where we can meet,” Dr. Pickton said, in which he added a second later “ That is, if you agree to help…”
Phoenix heard a loud whirl and looked around. The train was decelerating and coming to a halt. The train entered a brightly lit station almost devoid of people except for a lone man standing at the station. Phoenix picked up his things and strode to the nearest door as it opened up.
“ Glad you could make it,” Dr. Pickton said, smiling. Phoenix gave him a curt nod and stepped out.
The underground train station was directly connected to one of Strycorps main industrial buildings. Since the only people who come here are the workers of Strycorps and the scientists manning the research facility, normal civilians aren’t allowed to board the train and wander around this island. Even though it is a research area, Island 8 has built-in living facilities and supplies for daily needs so scientists will not need to leave the island if they want to.
Dr. Pickton swiped his ID card over another security scanner, the 5th Phoenix has seen so far. A green light started blinking and the door in front of them slid open. Phoenix squinted his eyes as bright sunshine shone through the doors. Strycorps liked to have the interior of their buildings dark and gloomy.
“ Over here,” Dr. Pickton motioned, heading across towards the building across the station. It was a large rectangular building all covered in white. It stood over twenty stories high and looked as appealing as a coffin.
Scientists just have no sense of art.
“ Interesting place,” Phoenix muttered.
Dr. Pickton swiped his ID card again over another scanner to open the main entrance.
“ Do we need that ID card to enter any room in this Island?” Phoenix asked.
“ Yes. I’ll be getting one for you soon, so just wait a while,” Dr. Pickton replied.
“ So, basically, if you lose your card, you will be stranded,” Phoenix said.
“ Not exactly,” Dr. Pickton replied. Phoenix wanted to question him further, but the grave look on his face told him that it was an unsuitable time to ask questions.
The building was very large. The reception area was bustling with people, mostly dressed in white coats and carrying large files, heading in all directions. Nobody seemed to want to talk to one another, just giving mostly barely perceptible nods after being issued an order or a statement. Phoenix was reminded of an effective beehive, all the workers seemingly being able to work without a social life.
Dr. Pickton weaved through the entire crowd of wandering scientists, reaching for the elevator that was located at the northwest corner from the entrance. Swiping his card on yet another scanner and pressing a button, they patiently waited for the lift to arrive.
“ What made you come here?” Dr. Pickton asked.
“ I thought we had agreed you we will not broach the subject,” Phoenix answered back.